Home for the Holidays (21 page)

“Did I forget to assure you that I’d never lie to you again?”

She blushed. There it was, standing between them again, everything he’d done, everything he regretted. And how utterly foolish, to let that subject come up so soon. He’d wanted her to relax first, to recall the fun they’d had in this room.

“Do you realize that saying it isn’t an assurance, when the assurance could be a lie as well?”

“Your doubt is tangible, Rissa, and understandable. But have you realized that most of the lies were to keep you here? I wanted you so much, I was committed to doing anything in my power to have you come willingly to me.
I’m sorry for the deceptions having to do with your father. I made mistakes. I’m far from perfect. But I won’t apologize for wanting you, or for making love to you, or for anything I did to make you mine, if only for a little while, because saying I’m sorry for
that
would be a lie.”

Though her cheeks were a bit brighter from his bluntness, she didn’t reply. She even moved away from him so she could stare at the tree without looking at him. Her expression had given him no clue, either, to how his statements had affected her, other than to embarrass her.

He tried again. “I was never going to marry. But then I was never going to fall in love either. It was an emotion I thought I was immune to. You’ve proven me wrong. I just wish I had realized it before Christmas day. Had I recognized it sooner, we would have been engaged before your father returned; hell, I might even have dragged you off to Gretna Green to make sure we were married before his return.”

He paused, waited hopefully, but she still just stared pensively at the tree. His last chance, and she was shooting it down with her silence. Of course, that was answer in itself. She’d had enough time to harden her resolve. But he hadn’t anticipated indifference.

He moved behind her, started to put his hands on her shoulders, but stopped himself, afraid she’d bolt if he touched her. “Rissa, say something.”

“I read your brother’s letters.”

“And?”

“And I might have done the same thing you did.”

He went still, held his breath. “You’re saying you forgive me?”

“I’m saying I love you and can’t find any way around that.”

He didn’t give her a chance to take it back or try to correct what she’d just said. He swung her around, gathered her close, kissed her deeply. That she yielded immediately was his answer and filled him with such relief, there was barely any room left to contain his joy. She was his again! And he wasn’t going to lose her this time.

“You came here with the intention of forgiving me?” he said.

“I thought it might be possible.”

Her grin was infectious. He returned it, hugged her tightly. “Elope with me.”

“No, we do this the proper way this time. You’ll have to speak to my father.”

He groaned. “He’s made his feelings clear. He doesn’t like me.”

“You’ll find he’s probably changed his mind about that,” she told him. “He knows I love you. He’s the one who made me see that I was being too hard on you. But if I’m wrong,
then
we can elope.”

“You really mean that, don’t you?” he asked her in amazement.

She cupped his cheeks in her hands so tenderly. “I was letting my hurt overrule my heart, when I knew deep down that you were still the man I fell in love with. I’m sorry it took so long for my heart to take over again—”

“Shh, it doesn’t matter now. Nothing else matters, except that we’re together again. I’ll speak to your father immediately.”

“You’ll help me take down the Christmas tree first,” she said.

He chuckled. “I knew that tree was going to bring us together again.”

“It’s almost a shame to take it down, when it’s still so green.”

“Then don’t,” he suggested. “Or is that part of the ritual?”

“Well, it does sort of put Christmas to rest until the next year.”

“Who says it has to be put to rest? I rather liked your concept of ‘sharing.’”

She smiled, reached for his hand to hold it. “We won’t need a tree for that.”

He brought her hand to his lips. “No, I don’t suppose we will.”

“O
H … OH, MY.”

That didn’t quite express Larissa’s degree of surprise, it was more indicative of her speechlessness when she finally noticed the large painting hanging on the wall at the head of Vincent’s bed.

They had been married that morning, just a small gathering of family and friends. Viscount Hale had wanted to throw them the biggest party London had ever seen, but Vincent had adamantly refused, mentioning something about theaters and what had happened the last time the
ton
got a look at Larissa, and that he’d like to
keep her to himself for a while more as they settled into marriage.

Jonathan understood perfectly, if Larissa didn’t. She had enjoyed the theater, but she wasn’t sure she would enjoy a huge London bash, so she was rather glad her husband had declined the offer.

Her father had welcomed Vincent to the family with open arms, as she had predicted. Her brother hadn’t. Having witnessed the turmoil of her emotions while she was falling in love, and blaming many of those tears on Vincent, Thomas had taken a “wait and see” attitude. For him, Vincent was going to have to prove that he could make Larissa happy. She was sure it wouldn’t take long, though, when she was already happier than she could ever have thought possible.

“Oh, my,” she said yet again, causing Vincent to chuckle this time as he came to stand behind her next to the bed.

She was staring at an exquisitely beautiful, naked young maiden cavorting with four satyrs in a woodland glade. That was the modest description of
La Nymph.
The depicted scene was actually much more lurid, and anyone with any degree of imagination could make whatever he or she wanted to out of it.

“Our wedding gift from Jonathan,” Vincent explained, his hands resting on her shoulders.

“We don’t have to keep it, do we?”

He laughed. “No indeed, and in fact, it’s only on loan to us. He expects it back, though I don’t doubt he’s glad to be rid of it for a while. He was somewhat amazed to find the notorious effect of the painting quite true, at least for him.” He explained to her, briefly, the history of
La Nymph,
ending with, “The day he brought it home, after purchasing it from your father, he ended up visiting four of his mistresses, quite an exhausting experience, I would imagine.”

She turned around, stared at him wide-eyed. “He had that many—lady friends?”

His hands began to caress her neck. “More than that, but he only managed to get around to that many that day.”

She huffed a bit indignantly. “And there I thought he was interested in me for marriage; at least that is the impression he gave.”

“Oh, he was.” He grinned. “He did indeed want to marry you.”

“When he kept company with so many other women?” she all but snorted.

“What he would have offered you in a marriage was more money than you could ever imagine. He wasn’t offering faithfulness. He would have been up front about it, though, explaining to you that variety is the spice of his life. It would have been entirely up to you if you wanted that sort of marriage.”

“He actually thought I could be …? Well,
bought
is the word that comes to mind.”

Vincent smiled, his thumbs beginning to circle her cheeks, then her earlobes. “He had hoped so. You became his newest goal for a while. But he began to see where your true interest was—and mine as well—and bowed out of the running with no hard feelings. Actually, now that he considers me his best friend, he’s quite delighted that you’ve married me instead.”

“A friend, yet he can give you something like that?” she said, nodding at the painting again.

“A joke, sweetheart, in poor taste in that it has nothing to do with love, everything to do with sex, but he meant no harm by it. But then it doesn’t have quite the same effect on me as it does on him.”

“No?”

“Some people are stimulated by what they see, as in the case of the painting. For others, visual makes no difference; touch is their only stimulation; it must be what they can feel. And for still others, there is emotional stimulation; the heart must be involved.”

“You fall into the third category?”

“I’m not sure which might have been the case before I met you, but I’m quite sure which is the case now. Love makes the difference for me. You are my only stimulation.”

She hadn’t been immune to the caresses she had been
receiving, but his words thrilled her beyond measure. “I believe we just might have all three categories covered tonight,” she said breathlessly. “Though the latter two are preferred.”

“I’ll get rid of the first,” he offered.

He went to the head of the bed to flip the painting around to the wall. Neither of them was expecting there to be another painting on the back of it, of the exact same scene, just rendered from behind.

They both laughed. “Now, that is too funny,” Larissa allowed. “Even the artist realized that not everyone would appreciate his work. Quite determined, wasn’t he, that it not be hidden from view?”

Vincent grinned, grabbed a sheet from the bed, and draped it over the painting. “And I’m quite determined that your wedding night be perfect in every way.”

He came back to stand before her, cupped her cheeks in his hands. The golden glow was in his eyes, though his expression was intensely serious for a moment.

“I love you so much, I’m not sure how to express it, Rissa. You’ve brought light into what was darkness. I existed, but I wasn’t living. Can you understand what I mean? You filled a void in my life I didn’t know I had.”

“Don’t make me cry,” she said, moisture gathering in her turquoise eyes.

He smiled gently just before he hugged her close. “I
don’t mind your sympathy tears. They show me how much you love me.”

“I’d rather show you in other ways.”

“You do. You show me in so many ways, but I’ll never get enough. I’m so
glad
that you’re my wife, Rissa. And I promise to make you glad of it also, every day, for the rest of your life.”

She wiped the tears from her eyes, gave him a brilliant smile. “You’ve already begun.”

All I Need Is You
Angel
Brave the Wild Wind
Captive Bride
Defy Not the Heart
Fires of Winter
A Gentle Feuding
Gentle Rogue
Glorious Angel
Heart of Thunder
A Heart So Wild
Hearts Aflame
The Heir
Joining
Keeper of the Heart
Love Me Forever
Love Only Once
The Magic of You
Man of My Dreams
Once a Princess
Paradise Wild
A Pirate’s Love
The Present
Prisoner of My Desire
Savage Thunder
Say You Love Me
Secret Fire
Silver Angel
So Speaks the Heart
Surrender My Love
Tender Is the Storm
Tender Rebel
Until Forever
Warrior’s Woman
When Love Awaits
You Belong to Me